AI Code Assistants for RPG and COBOL Compared: What Actually Works on IBM i
Ask around any IBM i shop about AI code assistants and you will hear about at least three different things: IBM's own IBM Bob, general-purpose tools like GitHub Copilot, and developers pasting RPG snippets into ChatGPT or Claude out of curiosity. These are not interchangeable, and conflating them leads to mismatched expectations.
The core distinction: IBM i-specific vs. general-purpose
IBM Bob is the only one of the three built specifically around RPG and the IBM i development environment, with code explanation, RPG generation, and fixed-to-free-format modernization support as named, purpose-built capabilities. It reached general availability on March 24, 2026, succeeding IBM's earlier watsonx Code Assistant for i preview. GitHub Copilot and general-purpose chat assistants are broad coding aids that happen to have seen some RPG and COBOL in their training data, not tools purpose-built for IBM i modernization work.
AI code assistants for RPG/COBOL, at a glance
See our full comparison page for a structured breakdown across additional axes including deployment model and typical use case.
| Assistant | IBM i-Specific | Fixed-to-Free-Format Support | IBM i Integration |
|---|---|---|---|
| IBM Bob 2.0 with the Premium Package for i | Yes, purpose-built; 1.0 GA March 24, 2026, 2.0 and Premium Package GA June 24, 2026 | Named capability | Downloadable VS Code-fork agent tuned for RPG, COBOL, CL, DDS, and SQL; the Premium Package works directly against QSYS, the IFS, and Db2 for i |
| GitHub Copilot | No, general-purpose | Not a specific feature | General VS Code / IDE integration, not IBM i-specific |
| ChatGPT / Claude (ad hoc) | No, general-purpose | Not a specific feature | None; used manually outside any IDE integration |
None of these tools should be treated as fully autonomous. Whichever assistant a shop uses, plan for developer review of AI-suggested RPG changes before they reach production, the same discipline you would apply to any other code change.
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